Samsung Galaxy Gear software update enhances battery life and more

Samsung is rolling out a software update to its Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The newest firmware takes it to version MK7 and brings a couple of new features alongside enhancements to improve the overall performance of the gadget.

One of the major tweaks with the new update are the notifications, now supporting non-Samsung apps. For example, the Gmail app now gives you the ability to read the body of an email and shows you the subject and sender details.

Here’s what the new update comes with:

• Improved range and connection: Samsung says the Gear can now stray a little farther from the phone before losing its connection. That’s good — it felt pretty short before. The automatic connection feature has been improved as well.• Improved battery life. Again, that addresses one of the chief complaints about the Gear. We’ll have to see how much longer it lasts.• S Voice search should be faster.• “Your Gear’s performance has been improved and its features have been enhanced.” Whatever that means.

If you happen to have a Galaxy Gear smartwatch, then you can update your device over the air by downloading the latest Gear Manager app or alternatively, you can download the Samsung KIES software and update your Gear via USB.